Heading into Week 14 last season, the Buccaneers had a 9-3 record and appeared to be headed for a second consecutive playoff berth and perhaps even a first-round bye. Then their defense collapsed, helping to fuel a four-game losing streak, which kept Tampa Bay out of the postseason and cost head coach Jon Gruden and GM Bruce Allen their jobs.

Seven games into this season, that losing streak has extended to 11 games with no hope for a turnaround in sight, and the 0-7 Bucs are the league's only winless team. Ten months after being promoted into their current roles, the new ruling regime of head coach Raheem Morris and GM Mark Dominik is certain to face a barrage of questions about job security in the coming weeks if the team's slide continues. Speculation about their future has already begun.

A 0-16 season is a real possibility for a club that is breaking in a rookie at quarterback in Josh Freeman, who will make his first start vs. Green Bay on Sunday. Sources familiar with the decision-making process of the team's ownership suspect, however, that the Glazer family will be patient and would most likely hold off on scrapping the Morris-Dominik plan one year into its existence.

Changes undoubtedly will be considered if the Bucs go winless, but the Glazer family went out on a limb and made the then-32-year-old Morris their pick in February knowing that it was going to take time to build the club back into a winner. Expectations were low entering the season and the Glazers aren't known to make knee-jerk decisions. Plus, the team is still on the hook to pay Gruden and Allen per the buyouts of their deals. It's hard to imagine the Glazers paying Gruden and Allen, Morris and Dominik and then piling another new coaching salary on top of that.

It's not going to sit well with the team's fans to stick with Morris when a host of big-name head coaches, including Mike Shanahan, Bill Cowher and Mike Holmgren, are expected to jump back into the league in 2010, but sources say there appears to be a strong commitment to sticking with the current blueprint for an extended period, regardless of the negative publicity that move will produce.

PFW has launched its brand-new NFL Draft Newsletter series, with the second issue being released later this month. Produced by PFW's player personnel department under the direction of Nolan Nawrocki, the series consists of four information-packed issues. For more info or to subscribe — click here for PDF e-pub or here for print format.